Lover Come Back (1961)

This glossy Doris Day vehicle starts off promisingly, but unfortunately it tends to run out of steam about halfway through, when the screenwriters decide to put all their gags, namely Hudson's impersonation, into the one basket. Admittedly, the film starts off with this strand rather promisingly – Hudson in an outrageous suit – but the plot becomes wearisome in its second half through constant repetition of the same gags. A pity the Jack Oakie character has so small a part. We keep waiting for him to come back, but he doesn't! And even Edie Adams, whose role was even larger than Oakie's and more important, simply disappears! All the really good gags, both visual and aural, are packed into the first half of the movie. Even the clock two minutes gag seems pretty laborious. Tony Randall's part is so heavy handed, it could do with some trimming too. When the movie has pace, it also has wit, but when it slows down for the second half, the wit wilts as well! Another problem for me is that I hate soft focus! If the whole movie is soft focused, no problem. But if soft focus is used just for one character and it's just simply cut into the footage, I find it very distracting. I know it's used here to disguise Doris Day's age, but for me that makes it even more irritating. True, Doris is her usual perky self and she's always stunningly dressed – although I must admit that I found some of her costumes unflattering. And alas, she is handed only two songs, including the title tune! As usual, director Delbert Mann is only as good as all the gloss surrounding him. Without help from music, script, players, sets, photography, editing and costumes, he's nothing special. Make it 6.5!

Witless, belabored comedy with a distractingly soft focus Doris Day outfitted in terrible hats. With dreary grayish blue set design, and a supporting cast made up of recognizable TV regulars, it plays like a dull sitcom. An obvious retread of Pillow Tak that lacks charm and sprightliness. The situations and characters are basically uninteresting and you'll find it hard to believe that the script for this laugh deficient film was nominated for an Oscar. It's one-note and repetitious. Hudson's is inoffensively dull and Day is up to her usual tired tricks:wide eyed surprise and exasperation. Not a fan of either performer though this seems like the dullest of their film pairings.

My personal preference is for films of all kinds from the '30's to the mid '40's. For me the writing is generally much more sophisticated than later films - especially films from the era of Lover Come Back. That said, I give this film extremely high marks for the script. The writing here is much more sophisticated than Pillow Talk. There is nothing in any of the Day/Hudson movies to compare with the aquarium scene. It is classic.Another key scene is when Rock comes up to Doris' apartment for dinner. The dress that she wears in that scene is one of the best ever! It is sophisticated, chic, glamorous and as sexy as they come! It accentuates her knockout figure without revealing anything! Wow is she ever hot in that dress!But that scene, paradoxically, is why I do not rate this film more highly. Rock really overdoes the poor, sheltered, inexperienced guy. (I wish he had played that scene with the subtlety he displays when Doris mistakes him for the professor in the lab, and in the subsequent aquarium scene. They are both perfect.) As hammy as it is, it is a real blemish on an otherwise great performance and fabulous comedy. That scene just seems more hammy than the rest of the film.One other criticism is the ending. It comes very abruptly. I wish there had been some film footage showing his mailing letters for 8 months before giving up in the 9th, rather than just having his character tell us about that long interval while proposing to Doris on her way to delivery.Lastly, I think that this film gets overlooked because of its title. If it had a title that actually reflected the story, it would be more memorable. Every time I hear "Lover Come Back" I just draw a blank. Day and Hudson aren't lovers except for one night very late in the story, and they are reunited a few scenes later at the very end of the film. The bulk of the film deals with their conflict! The title leads you to expect a story built around the efforts of one lover to rekindle a romance with an estranged beloved - not this movie at all! Big mistake.

Following the tremendous success of "Pillow Talk", Universal re-teamed the trio of Hudson, Day and Randall (this time elevated to above-the-title billing) for another go 'round. Day plays a straight-laced ad exec who is mortified to lose a prime account to competitor Hudson, who uses immoral and underhanded tactics to get his accounts for his boss Randall. When Day reports Hudson to the Ad Council, it sparks a game of cat and mouse that involves Hudson luring Day into a romantic relationship in the name of landing a product that doesn't even exist! Day falls for Hudson in his guise of a chemist, not realizing that he's the competitor she loathes so much. The magic present in "Pillow Talk" is only here to a degree. For one thing, save one very brief phone conversation, Day and Hudson don't meet at ALL until 45 minutes into the film. Additionally, Day and Randall do not share one frame of footage in the entire movie, squandering an opportunity to repeat the splendid chemistry they displayed in the prior film. Fortunately, once Day and Hudson finally meet up, their terrific rapport with each other kicks in and the film begins to show some of the comedic and romantic sparkle that this team is known for. Day is in tremendous shape here, looking wonderful in some sharp Irene ensembles (most of which are spoiled by some distinctly unappealing hats, though they're good for a chuckle at any rate!) Unfortunately, she is bathed in soft-focus for even the most remote close-ups and there's a severity in her makeup, mostly in the brows, that detracts from her usual sunny visage. Still, this is Day at her prime and she delivers a lot of great lines and expressions along the way. Hudson is at his most handsome and has quite a few shirtless scenes. He gets to deliver a lot of amusing lines as well and is allowed to play the charming heel he perfected during this time. Randall is given a funny role to play as a rich CEO who lacks the backbone and confidence to do anything whatsoever. He and Hudson play off each other well, as always. Also appearing are Adams as one of Hudson's playthings, Oakie as a southern-fried potential client, Krushen as a dangerous inventor and Davis (pre-"Brady Bunch") as Day's devoted secretary. In much smaller roles, Douglas appears as Randall's secretary, Albertson and Watts are a pair of bemused salesmen visiting the city and Bessell has a bit part as an elevator operator. All the ingredients are here for this to be a smash to at least equal "Pillow Talk", but somehow it never reaches its full potential. Part of the problem is the aforementioned lack of connection between the actors, but also the editing seems to leave room for long laugh pauses, giving the film an awkward sense of timing if things aren't quite as knee-slapping as hoped for. It just lacks the zip and zing and freshness that punctuated the earlier movie (and the one after this.) It also goes a tad overboard with the colored explosions and the product revealed in the resolution. Still, this team is charming in the extreme and they make it worth watching. One casting tidbit: Norris, who plays Hudson's secretary, was the telephone inspector he seduced in "Pillow Talk".